Sir Alec
by mykelara
Summary: Daisy wants to play princess... compendium piece to "A Million Holes Poked In The Soul" Chapter 17. It's fluffy, possibly OCC and certainly AU, so be warned.


**A/N:** This is pure happy daughter-daddy fluff written for Hazel's enjoyment. After reading Chapter 17 of "A Million Holes Poked In The Soul" she asked about Sir Alec… here's the story. Oh, and we meet CS Ed Baxter for the first time (Alec's boss in Sandbrook, one of my OCs from the other story)... all the 4 year old quotes are courtesy of my little princess.

* * *

 **SIR ALEC**

"Daaad. I wanna play princess."

Alec Hardy groaned. He opened one eye and peeked out from under his pillow. Her tiny silhouette was a shadow against the gray morning light filtering through the window. There was something on her head.

 _Right._ A crown.

She tugged on the pillow. "Daaad. Come on. I wanna play."

She crawled onto the bed and plopped down on his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. _Damn,_ she was getting heavy.

"Is it a school day today?"

She sounded anxious. He wasn't sure what answer she was hoping for. It was always a question of her daily mood, although lately she seemed equally excited to stay home and play with him all day long as she was about the prospect of going to preschool.

"No, darlin'. It's not, it's the weekend, remember?" His voice was rough with sleep.

"Yay, because I have things that I want to do on the weekend. I'm going to be busy." Her little face was beaming with excitement.

He pulled himself up a little, carefully balancing her on his chest. "And what would those be then, those things."

Her face turned into a thinking frown. "Hmmm, I wanna eat ice cream and…" She didn't finish, immediately distracted by the need to cuddle her stuffed unicorn.

"I see. Ice cream and what else?" He was hiding a smile, she never could come up with an agenda.

"I dunno. Ice cream, that's it." Her voice creeped up and she put up her hands, shrugging.

She jumped off the bed and announced she had to go potty, really, really bad, but she needed company and he better come quickly, because she might have an accident.

He rolled out of the bed and took a moment to collect himself before getting up. Tess was still asleep or at least she was pretending to be. He smiled lovingly at the sight of her curled up body. He made an effort to tug the blanket around her to fight of the chilly morning.

"Daaad!" Her voice was echoing through the house. "There is no toilet paper."

It was 6:28 am. He sighed. This was going to be a long morning.

* * *

"Daisy, you're sure you don't want to eat breakfast yet? We could have chocolate toast?"

He was desperate. It had been an hour since she woke him up and he really wanted a cup of tea badly. She had trapped him in the castle made out of sofa cushions, blankets and her giant cardboard blocks. He was supposed to guard the monster - today's chosen creature was a purplish-pinkish dragon with a long green tail - until she was finished getting dressed up as princess.

So far she had put on a pink dress ("Dad, help me with the buttons, because I can't do those."), a tutu on top ("Dad, not the pink one, the sparkly purple one") and a pocket book that she had stuffed full of who knows what ("I have to pack for the trip" - "What trip? Where are we going?" - "Dunno, just the trip, Dad"). Her hair was decorated with not only the crown but also what looked like a mad man's version of hair styling. There were random hair clips, flower barrettes and about half a dozen of colorful pipe cleaners weaved into her hair. The pipe cleaner thing was the latest obsession brought home from preschool. They were scattered all over the house and more than once Alec had cursed loudly when he stepped on the sharp end of a forgotten one.

"Darlin', could Daddy go and make himself a cup of tea? Please?" he was pleading. His toes were freezing. He should have worn socks.

"No." Her face was stern. "You need to watch the dragon."

"But you're not even ready yet." _God_ , he sure sounded pathetic.

"That's exactly why you have to watch him." She gave him a look that implied he was a little daft.

There was no escaping the logic of a four year old - oh pardon - four and a half year old person. He could reason with a mass murderer, but this was beyond his abilities. He rubbed the back of his head and made a decision. He really needed that cup of tea. He got up. His legs had fallen asleep (from sitting _"criss-cross-applesauce"_ apparently the _only_ way to guard the dragon _)_ and where all tingly. He awkwardly hobbled over the castle structures and of course bumped a crucial sofa pillow. The whole construction came tumbling down.

 _Bollocks._

"Daaad! You broke it!" She was wailing immediately and tears were flowing.

"I'm sorry, so sorry. Look, I'll fix it, right?"

He scrambled to put the castle back in place. He was moderately successful. Daisy was pleased enough. When he came back, mug in his hand, she was already eagerly waiting for him. She jumped up and down with excitement and twirled around in front of him

"Watch my moves, Dad."

And after another spin. "Do you like my outfit?"

He made a point of looking her over. "I love it. It's fantastic." He smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

"We have to get you dressed, Dad. A knight needs a shining armor."

He took a quick sip from his tea, before he put down the mug. It would be cold by the next time he got a hold of it. Dressing him up as knight had been a continued source for disgruntlement. Daisy never deemed any of his efforts as adequate.

"It's not shiny." – and the leather jacket was rejected.

"It's not an armor. How are you going to fight the dragon?" – and the rain jacket was rejected.

"That's for bike riding." – and the helmet was rejected.

He sighed. He was leaning against the door frame and wrecking his brain what he could try out this time. He thought of Tess' dress coat which was silvery silk but he didn't know what would be worse to deal with. The wailing of a four year old or the wrath of his wife if he destroyed her favorite coat while crawling around chasing a purplish-pinkish dragon with a long green tail. Maybe he could try his winter coat, he hadn't done that yet. It didn't work.

"Dad, it's scratchy, armor's smooth."

She barely could say the word smooth, how did she come up with these things? He gave up and plopped on the couch. And promptly thudded his head on the hard back that wasn't covered by any pillows.

 _Oh, God damn it._

It was 7:47 am. Already exhausted he drank a sip of his tea only to sputter it back into the cup. It was cold and bitter by now. Indeed, this was turning out to be a very long morning.

"Daisy, darlin', do you wanna read some books with Daddy?"

He was hopeful she would take the bait. She did. She dragged in a pile of colorful books and handed him the first one. They had only read about a million or so times before, so it wasn't the worst. She snuggled into his side and rested her small warm hand against his chest. It was a welcome feeling in the chilly morning air. He stared reading, his warm baritone floating through the room.

He made an effort of doing the voices of _"Frog and Toad"_ and she kept correcting him about the story. There was no skipping pages. He had a hard time keeping his eyes open, effectively reading himself to sleep.

After about five books, he was done.

"Dad, can we read one more? Please? Pretty please?"

She was begging him and it was hard to resists those hazel eyes. He gave in. but not without making another cup of tea first. This time Daisy approved.

"You're just too grumpy without your tea, Dad." She gave him that smile that was solely his.

 _Right._ Tea it is then.

When Tess finally had mercy with him and joined them at the breakfast table around half ten, he was already done for the day.

* * *

It was Saturday but he had to go in to the police station to finish off some paperwork. All the Detective Sergeants had to do at least one weekend shift per month, so he might as well get it over with.

Daisy gave him a big hug and made sure he had his kiss for his kissing hand safely stored away, so that he always had a kiss from her if he needed one. He waved when he pulled out of the driveway. He hoped he'd be back in time for afternoon tea.

He passed by the Tesco and an idea popped up in his head. He barely made the turn into the parking lot. 30 minutes later, he drove off with hopefully everything that he needed to execute his plan.

He made himself another cup of tea in the office kitchen and got to work at his desk. His cubicle was in a quiet corner of CID and he didn't mind. It was quiet on a Saturdays anyways. He quickly finished the paperwork and then proceeded to his real task. He checked that nobody else was around. He'd been at South Mercia for about six months now and wouldn't want any of his colleagues to think he was unprofessional.

Soon he was rather engrossed, surrounded by glue, scissors, tin foil and markers.

"DS Hardy, about that promotion…" CS Baxter's voice boomed through the room.

Hardy jumped and almost fell of his chair.

"Erm, what's this, that you're doing here, Hardy?" Baxter sounded rather puzzled.

Hardy could feel his ears heating up and his cheeks were burning.

 _Shitshitshitshitshit._ How could he have not noticed that his boss was around?

He opened his mouth but couldn't come up quickly enough with a good cover up story. He chewed his lip and out of nervous habit tugged on his tie. His superior frowned and tilted his head a little. His eyes wandered over the cluttered desk until a family photo caught his gaze. It showed Hardy happily hugging his wife and Daisy when she was about three years old.

"Ah, how old is she?" Baxter gestured to the photo. He was smiling.

Hardy finally found his voice. His mouth just took over and he babbled away.

"Four, or four and a half, if you ask her. That seems to be a big difference, don't know why, beats me. She gets upset if I get it wrong. Corrects me all the time. And she's rather rude about it to total strangers, it's embarrassing, you know. I mean, what's the big deal about those six months…"

"Hardy, you're rambling." Baxter grinned at Hardy's stunned face.

" M' sorry, sir." Hardy so badly wanted a crack in the earth to open so he could be swallowed up and never had to return.

Baxter's blue-gray eyes sparkled and he pulled a chair over.

 _God,_ _he's not leaving_. The last thing he could handle now was a conversation with his boss.

"You never answered." Baxter looked curious. He picked up the tin foil and tapped it on the desk. "What are you doing with this?"

"Erm, I was trying to…" Hardy trailed off. He couldn't really tell his boss that he was working on his costumes for playing princess and knight while he was on police time. He ducked his head and pressed his lips to a thin line.

"Out with it, Hardy." Baxter's voice was sharp and Hardy recognized the interrogation room tone.

" _Fine._ I'm making something for my daughter." His voice was more defiant than he would have liked it to, but he finally had said it.

Hardy didn't think Baxter's grin could grow any wider, but it did.

"Good man." He stood up and patted Hardy on the shoulder.

Hardy stared at him with utter confusion. That was not what he had expected. Baxter looked him in the eyes, and Hardy could have sworn there was a fondness in there that he hadn't noted before.

"You're starting as DI on Monday. You can move your office then. After you cleaned up the mess here." Baxter waved his hands vaguely at Hardy's craft materials.

He didn't give Hardy a chance to say anything. He was walking away, when he turned and gave Hardy another one of those piercing stares.

"And you're doing this all wrong. You have to cut out the card board shield first and then wrap the foil around it. Not the other way round." He smirked and added, "A picture of you wearing it will suffice as bribe not to mention this ever again."

Hardy was speechless. He managed a "Thank you, sir." His ears were still burning but he felt oddly at ease with his new boss. And then he realized that he had just been promoted. His smile grew wide and he picked up the phone to call home.

* * *

"Daaad, I wanna play princess."

Daisy tugged on his pillow. Hardy groaned. He couldn't help but feel like being in the movie _'Groundhog Day'_. He dragged himself out of bed.

It was 7:02 am. That was better than the day before.

He made sure this time to have tea before embarking on building the castle. This morning, he was guarding the silver 'woof' (Daisy's version of the word wolf). They went through the lengthy process of Princess Daisy getting ready. Today is was a purple dress, the pink tutu and of course another jammed packed purse. He admired her moves and outfit, just as proudly has he had the day before.

"Dad, you have to get dressed. A knight needs his armor."

That was the clue he had been waiting for. He smiled and pulled out the fruit of his labor. It was a shiny breast shield, a helmet and a sword that he had made from cardboard, tinfoil and a few other things. Daisy's eyes widened when she saw his costume. She bounced over to him and touched it.

With her half whispered _'I-have-a-secret'_ voice she marveled. "Dad, it's shiny, and smooth, and an armor." Her voice got louder and she started jumping up and down with excitement. "And there is a helmet and a SWORD." She squealed.

He beamed. His lips were drawn into a gorgeous smile and the corners of his eyes crinkled up. He put on his knight costume and greeted Princess Daisy with a bow.

"Sir Alec at your service, my princess."

She giggled and dragged him over to the sofa castle. Together they fought the brave battle against the silver 'woof'.

"And now we get married." She didn't give him enough time to respond and ran off into her room.

"Come on, Dad. We have to get the guests for the party."

Her voice was echoing through the house again. He drank another sip of cold tea and followed her. He helped carry about a million or so of stuffed animals out to the living room – Tess was going to kill him – and they embarked on grooming the toys. Once they were finished they were all lined up to join the party.

And that's how Tess found them when she got up – Sir Alec and Princess Daisy surrounded by their wedding guests, happily snuggled together, reading "Frog and Toad". Again. Tess was a little confused why Hardy wanted her to take a picture and print it out for him, but she did.

* * *

On Monday morning, DI Alec Hardy moved into his new space. He put the picture into an envelope and walked over to Baxter's office. He knocked and was called in.

"Good morning, sir."

"Morning, DI Hardy." Baxter grinned when he saw Hardy smile shyly after being addressed by his new title.

Hardy fidgeted a little but then pulled out the envelope. He scratched the back of head and scrutinized his feet. He placed the envelope on his superior's desk.

Baxter frowned. "What's that?"

"The bribe." Hardy grinned and left the room.

Baxter pulled out the picture and laughed when he saw his new DI dressed up as a knight surrounded by stuffed animals, doting over his little girl. Baxter's lips curled up into a content smile. He had made the right choice, he was sure about it.


End file.
